America’s new problem with female genital mutilation

In November, a district judge in Michigan ruled that the federal FGM law was unconstitutional. As a result, Elizabeth Yore of End FGM Today pointed out that the 23 states without laws against the procedure will become safe harbors for mutilators.

“Make no mistake, people who are engaging in FGM are fully aware of the states where it is not criminalized,” Yore insisted. “So, we have our work cut out for us – both on the federal level so that it meets constitutional muster and secondly, to get the remaining states to pass bills against FGM in their states.”